Northern Territory Stimulus #2 - Small Businesses Survival Fund Announced

Nathan Reichstein

25 March 2020

The Territory Labor Government will deliver a $50 million Small Businesses Survival Fund to help Territory businesses survive the unprecedented economic impacts of the coronavirus outbreak.

COVID-19 is doing more damage to our Territory economy than any natural disaster ever has.

The extreme measures that are necessary to control the spread of the virus will have an impact on our local businesses and workers. In response The Territory Government has vowed to do everything they can to protect small businesses and jobs as much as possible.

The Small Business Survival Fund is specifically targeted to support industries such as hospitality, restaurants, tourism and entertainment businesses who are bearing the brunt of this national crisis.

The Small Business Survival Fund has three goals:

Helping local businesses survive through the partial or full shut-down period. For example, support in meeting unavoidable fixed costs.
Helping local businesses adjust and adapt to take advantage of the new consumer environment. For example, expanding online services, take-away and delivery.
Preparing local businesses to take advantage of the rebounding economy when the coronavirus crisis is finally over. For example, upgrading premises or upskilling staff.

The Fund will be administered by the Department of Business, Trade and Innovation, which will receive recommendations of support from members of a Skilled Advisory Board. The Board will be chaired by respected Territory business leader Dick Guit. He will be supported by tourism leader Michael Bridge, Chamber of Commerce President Karen Sheldon and Hospitality NT President Paul Palmer.

The grant program will be open for applications from Friday 27 March.

The Department of Business, Trade and Innovation will release further information this week on the application processes and criteria.

The Department will also actively reach out to directly affected businesses to discuss their suitability for support from this Fund, as well as the other support that is now available from both the Territory Government and the Federal Government.

The Small Business Survival Fund is in addition to the Jobs Rescue and Recovery Package and the Tourism Resilience Package announced previously.

For more information please contact The Department of Business, Trade and Innovation on 1800 193 111.